It is said that this book helped Abraham Lincoln to solidify his stand against slavery and might have even been instrumental in the war.
This book includes input from people Harriet Beecher Stowe met who were escaping slavery. Though its a novel the accounts are historical. To deny that would be comparable to denying the holocost.
This book is written in the language of the time and is not easy for the young reader.
I found it heart rending and inspiring at the same time.

This was a book that was covered while I was in highschool. I can't say much of what I thought of it then; I don't think I thought much of it at all. I recently took this out at the library to give it another go and my opinion is completely different. It is a little difficult to read because some words are written exactly as the would phonetically sound, but the story is fantastic. I loved it the second time around and can certainly understand why it is considered a classic.

This book helped start the Civil War, & yet is still today a good read. While I'm sure that most of the characters are in fact caricatures, the story is well told and the moral endures. I wonder who will write so tellingly about the great evils of today.

I loved this book, it made me laugh, it made me cry...I never really fully understood what life was like for the slaves in the 1800's until I read this classic. I don't really want to give it up but I know I wont read it again. Its a wonderful book though that tugs at the heart strings and makes you want to cheer for Uncle Tom for standing up for what he believes in and never giving up no matter what happens to him.

This is a wonderful classic. It is awesome to sit down with these words in your hands and realize they were written over 100 years ago and today is still being read with the passion it was written with. Amazing story, I am so glad that I reread this. If you have never read this it is loving, raw and full of human emotion. This will be a classic for another 100 years. This book is in perfect condition to offer to another who wishes to appreciate this beautiful story.

This is a MUST READ for everybody. I waited 40 years to read this book and now wish I would have read it when I was required. However, I think I got a lot more out of it today than I would have back then.

This is a powerful story of the ills of slavery. The characters come alive and make you feel like you are a part of the story. I really enjoyed the strong females in the book and the portrayal of slavery and its effects on families and individuals. I found this book to be a compelling story and hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is a direct attack upon the system of slavery that existed in the Southern States of theUSA was first publish in serial form in 1851-52. It bacame immediately famous, was translated into many foreign languages, and has since been published in innumerable editions. It did much to form public opinion in the United States against slavery, which was ultimately abolished as a result of the war between the Northern and Southern States in 1961-64.

This abridged text was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who was born in Lichfield, Connecticut. She wrote ten novels for adults but her best known work is Uncle tom's Cabin. Following th book's publication she used her newfound fame to speak out against slavery in America and Europe.

From the back of the book:
Uncle Tom's Cabin is the story of the slave Tom. Devout and loyal, he is sold and sent down south, where he must endure the brutal treatment at the hands of the degenerate plantation owner Simon Legree.

Even though this is a novel, it sheds some very revealing and shocking details about American slavery. Abraham Lincoln said to the author, Harriet Beecher Stowe...."so your the little lady who started the great war". There are some very tough things to read in this book, but probably the most distrubing is that babies and children were seperated from their mama's and sold to other slave owner's. It was more than I could handle emotionally at times.

"Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American by words, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of pre-Civil War South. [This book] was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, 'a man of humanity,' as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking, controversial, and powerful work - exposing the attitudes of white 19th century society toward 'the peculiar institution' and documenting, in heartrending detail, the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families 'sold down the river.'" -- back cover

IF ANY OF THE PBS MEMBERS SHOULD READ THIS, I WISH TO TELL THEM THAT MS. STOWE DID NOT KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOUTH LAND WHEN SHE WROTE THIS BOOK. IF SOME ONE WANTED TO TRASH THE SOUTH, HECK, IT COULD HAVE EVEN BEEN THE NORTH SHE TRASHED. NONE OF IT IS REAL. I WOULD NOT WASTE MY TIME WITH THIS ONE, HAVE READ, AND KNOW THE TRUTH. WHAT TRASH, EVEN IF IT IS A SUPPOSED CLASSIC!!!!!!!!!!!